Tesla Model S (2023 - 2025) used car model guide

Despite all the changes that went on under the skin, at first glance Tesla's kept its 2023 Model Year Model S visual updates to a minimum. From the side, the updates were subtle, though an original owner would appreciate the more muscular proportions, especially at the rear. Wider arches give the car a squatter stance and house staggered performance wheels that keep the car planted - with 19-inch rims on the standard Dual Motor variant and big 21-inch alloys on the top Plaid version, which are wrapped in super-grippy Michelin Pilot Sport 4S rubber. The silhouette became sleeker too - Tesla claimed this to be the most aerodynamic production car on earth, with a drag coefficient of just 0.208Cd.
After the very gently evolved exterior, it's something of a surprise to take a seat inside and find an interior completely that's different from that of the earlier cabin in almost every way. Not least in the way that in this post-2023-era design it makes you sit on the wrong side of the car, thanks to Tesla's refusal to build this updated car in right hand drive form. As part of this update, not a single component was shared with the original Model S, not even the huge 17-inch centre screen, which became landscape rather than portrait in format. One change you might expect that didn't happen is that there's still a separate instrument screen ahead of you; on smaller Teslas, drive instruments are confined to the near side of the central monitor. Not all Model Ss featured this redesigned cabin's real talking point, the optional aircraft-style yoke that could optionally replace the conventional steering wheel. When fitted, it gives this Model S a 'Thunderbirds'-style that suits the futuristic vibe the designers were clearly looking for.
This tech-heavy look is intended to compensate you for the lack of the kind of wood, metal and stitched door and dashboard leather that you'd usually expect to find on a luxury saloon commanding a near six-figure asking price. Yes, build quality's a bit better than it used to be, the vegan leather feels quite realistic, the alcantara roof and pillar lining's lovely and there are a few strips of carbonfibre in the top Plaid version; but you don't feel spoiled in the way you should be by a car of this price. And the rough fabric on the door cards has no place in a car of this price. In true Tesla fashion, the vibe here is very minimalistic - even more so given that the brand did away with the column stalks previously provided for indicating and gear changes. Instead, the Model S guesses your intended direction of travel and requires you to confirm its prediction by tapping the brake pedal. Or you can just use a provided slider on the side of the centre screen, though that's partly obscured by the right hand side of the wheel. As for the wipers and indicators, well they're controlled with capacitive buttons on the steering tiller - the car uses its cameras and a steering angle sensor to know when to cancel the indicators. Which seems a very complicated way of fixing something that didn't really need to be fixed.
We're not sure we'd bother looking for cars fitted with the optional steering yoke, but we do like the redesigned TFT instrument screen you view above it. Tesla didn't take the opportunity EV architecture offers of providing a completely flat floor under the centre screen. Instead, there's a high centre console, forward of which is an angled compartment with twin wireless charging mats. The reorientated 17-inch landscape monitor just above which used to look so vast on the Model S here no longer seems quite as huge in an era of infotainment set-ups like the enormous Mercedes Hyperscreen layout. As before, it does without a lower rotary controller, but showcases a very good Google Maps navigation system, which you can either have full-screen or part-screen, the latter moveable from side to side of the monitor via an arrow button on the far side of the display.
This screen can be tilted towards either passenger and has better super-sharp graphics, though annoyingly Tesla refused to build in 'Apple CarPlay' or 'Android Auto' into it. As before, it incorporated a web browser and a Blind Spot display.
In the rear the standards of head and legroom on offer are unremarkable for a car in this class, but what is impressive is this car's ability to comfortably look after three fully-sized adults. Headroom's good, even for six-footers and even with the vast panoramic glass roof fitted, which usefully lightens up the cabin and doesn't need a sun shade because it's been treated to filter out harmful rays. Not so good is the way that the rear seat squab is set quite low in relation to the floor, which doesn't deliver an ideal seating position.
And cargo space? Well there's plenty of it. The lack of an engine means that the pointy end gets what Tesla calls a 'frunk' (American for 'front trunk', you see). Flip the bonnet and there's 89-litres on offer, some of the space you'd otherwise hope for compromised by the front-mounted motor.
The Dual Motor or Tri-Motor drivetrains require a slight compromise in rear boot space too, but it's not hugely significant and in any case, there's plenty of room to play with. The wide-opening powered tailgate rises to reveal an enormous 793-litres of luggage space - much more than you'd get in a much pricier Mercedes EQS and sufficient to take up to 11 carry-on suitcases. There's also a decently-sized deep well beneath the floor for all the charging cables. Plus a lidded corner left compartment and a netted storage pouch on the right.

Lots to look for here: the Model S reliability record isn't anything like as good as the smaller Model 3. We've heard of broken exterior door handles (they're retractable and sometimes get stuck), various body work problems and issues with the exterior lights (the auto high dip sometimes stops working). You shouldn't have any problems with the drive battery, but it will start to lose some of its charge capability over time. Check the charging system thoroughly - and that the charging lead locks and unlocks properly. Checks for cabin squeaks and rattles, peeling interior materials and premature wear of the vegan upholstery. Look out for phantom braking on the test drive.
Obviously, you need to thoroughly check the workings of the big centre touchscreen as it's the 'brain' of the car. We've heard of software glitches. What else? Well Tesla's own (recommended) windscreen washer fluid is expensive. And quite a few owners complain that the tyre life isn't as long as it should be (they often need replacing every 20,000 miles), which is a problem because replacements are expensive. Check the rubber on the car you're looking at and if it's worn, try and get the seller to deal with it before you buy. Some owners have had to replace the boot lid motor and latch assembly; others have had to replace both front drive shafts and CV joints. Others have had water leak issues. What you might not have to replaced is the brake pads; cars with nearly 100,000 miles covered on original pads aren't uncommon. Otherwise, it's just the usual things to look for: parking knocks and scrapes and any damage to the interior caused by kids. And of course insist on fully stamped-up service history.

(approx based on a 2023 Model S Dual Motor - Ex Vat - see autopartspro.co.uk) Rear brake pads sit in the £18-£28 bracket. Front brake pads are in the £25-£30 bracket. Front brake discs sit in the £72-£79 bracket; rear discs are in the £41-£80 bracket. An air filter is around £19-£60. A pollen filter's in the £5-£16 bracket. An ABS sensor is around £22-£29. A rear shock absorber can be anywhere in the £25-£68 bracket. Wiper blades sit in the £5-£8 bracket.

In both its guises, the Model S is very fast indeed. But abruptly striking speed in a luxury sporting EV like this has a very short shelf life of admiration. It wows you on the test drive and in the first few days of ownership, but then on public roads becomes something of an irrelevance - or even an irritation. What are the longer-lasting driving virtues you'd ideally be seeking from a big six-figure luxury segment EV contender like this? Well we'd be looking for hushed refinement, a smooth step-off the line, an emphasis on mid-range rather than start-off acceleration and, around the turns, something of the handling agility of a smaller car. In both the standard Dual Motor and top Plaid forms that make up this updated range, the Model S delivers all of these things and more. But in this post-2023-era version, there's the disadvantage of the left hand drive-only format that the US brand decided to mandate for our market.
Given the size and width of this car, that can make dealing with corners at speed on narrower British roads something of a confidence test. Particularly in a car with this much power. We can't imagine why the standard Dual Motor version wouldn't be quite sufficient for anyone shopping in this segment. Its AWD system uses a motor on each axle, together developing 661hp, allowing for an uber-rapid 3.1 second 0-60mph sprint time and a very un-EV-like (limited) top speed of 155mph. But there's another, wilder option. If like Elon Musk, you're the kind of person for whom too much is never enough, then only the top tri-motor Plaid version will do. An extra motor added onto the rear axle boosts total power output to an astonishing 1,020hp, with a scarcely believable 1,420Nm of torque on tap. And as a result, Tesla claims a 0-60mph time of just 1.99 seconds, which (should you be able to replicate it) would make this the world's fastest-accelerating production car from its period.
Ride quality in this updated design is massively better, even on big 21-inch wheels, a crucial improvement because for all its speed, this is a luxury conveyance first and foremost. To achieve this in this updated design, Tesla standardised air springs and completely redesigned the suspension, changing it from a four-link to a more sophisticated five-link set-up. Not so sophisticated is the steering set-up. The optional provision of Tesla's trendy steering yoke suggests a sophisticated drive-by-wire system but that's absent, as is much sense of feel from the rack through the corners, no matter which of its three provided settings you select.
Also strangely unsophisticated is the braking set-up (which can't combine friction and regen braking); and the energy harvesting system (which can't be varied in strength like it can be with rivals); there's just a single 'one-pedal' option. The completely redesigned drive battery's much better though, being not only big, at 100kWh, but also offering triple the amount of thermal capacity of earlier Model S designs, so can deliver 15% more energy for sustained performance during spirited driving. It offers longer range too - up to 394 miles for the Dual Motor derivative and 373 miles for the Plaid version. It requires 15 hours and 15 minutes for full replenishment from a 7.4kw wallbox; or 30 minutes for a 10-80% charge from a DC public rapid charger.

Some cars are important. Others are significant. But only a very few are game-changing. This was one of those - for so many reasons. It proved America capable of world-leading automotive design. It made luxury motoring credible in an eco-friendly world. And, most significantly of all, the production life of this Model S marked the period from which the market's perception of battery-charged cars began to change. With this car and the subsequent designs which followed it, Tesla has shown that electric power need no longer be seen as a restrictive influence but can be a liberating one.
Despite all of this, this much-improved post 2021-era Model S struggled for significance in our market because of the left hand drive-only format disappointingly adopted for this extensively revised design. If it wasn't for that, UK buyers might have been prepared to overlook the issues that Tesla still had to address with this car; the lack of steering feel, the absence of a combined friction and regen braking system, the need for greater driver control over energy harvesting and a lack of the kind of overtly opulent cabin luxury you might expect at this price point. After all, there was also so much to like; the frantic power of the Plaid version, the enormous boot, the reasonable value pricing and the convenience of that industry-leading supercharger public charging network.
Overall, what didn't change about this finally updated Model S was that it still rewarded those in search of something a little different in a car like this. These are people who realise that they won't find inspiration in the places they've already been. They understand that to move forward, you have to do something different - you have to go somewhere new. That's what Tesla did here, while the rest of the motor industry watched and hedged its bets. In doing so, this American brand created a car that has done nothing less than re-write the rulebook.